If i'm going to help, i need a longer reach.

How is it that things can be going so great and so awfully at the same time?

Di and i drove to San Antonio quite uneventfully, even stopping at Buc-ee's.  Meanwhile, on the home front, the A/C situation reached critical mass.

Sweetie called me multiple times and ended up having to sleep at Brother-in-Law, The Mouth's home.  The unit had tripped a breaker when someone didn't turn it off before emptying the drip pan, and it had frozen solid.

Friday i spent tons of time with my portable charger hooked up to the phone making calls to try to get someone, anyone, to schedule a service call through the home warranty company.  We were authorized to get a non-contracted provider, and we couldn't find one, so they got a regular provider who was too busy and wouldn't do it, and by the end of all of it i felt ready to throw away the central A/C and buy a window unit for every room in the house.

Finally the A/C was unfrozen and working if you nursed it along by taking pristine care of the drip pan and i had a promise that someone will come on Monday.

The time i didn't spend on the phone Friday was wonderful  We took one of the boats down by the Riverwalk, and went to the Mexican market (where i bought a sombrero for Pepe to wear when i get home), and had our gumbo feast.

It's one of my favorite things to do when we get together each year, i cook three big pots of gumbo, seafood, sausage and turkey, and vegan.  Yes, you can make vegan gumbo.  As i tell Grace, i'm going to blow up all over the kitchen and use almost every utensil and i promise you will have enough gumbo to feed all of us and all the rest of the family and put some in the freezer for later.  That's how it happened.

Today we are going to Fredricksburg, and i hope the A/C holds.  As i've told Sweetie, i can't fix it from here, and the worst thing that happens is you turn the whole unit off and go stay with a friend or at a hotel until someone comes to fix it.



Today is:

Arafat Day -- Afghanistan; Bahrain; Djibouti; Kuwait; Libya; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates

Big Mac Shoreline Fall Scenic Bike Tour & Ride Across The Mackinac Bridge -- Mackinaw City, MI, US (a one-of-a-kind bike tour; through tomorrow)

Boonesborough Days -- Boonesboro, MD, US (living history, food, antiques, and a celebration of the original spelling of the town's name; through tomorrow)

Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day 2015 -- US (the Saturday after Labor Day, everyone is encouraged to volunteer in cleaning federal land, recreation areas, or waterways, to help do their part to keep these places beautiful)

Chadds Ford Days -- Chadds Ford, PA, US (Brandywine Valley traditional art celebration; through tomorrow)

Dia del Nino -- Honduras (Children's Day)

Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day -- Quincy, WA, US (a fun and tasty way to celebrate and learn how food gets from the farm to your table; through Sunday)

Hang Around Victor Day -- Victor, NY, US (come see why it's a great place to do just that!)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest  -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

International Drive Your Studebaker Day -- an official event of the Studebaker Drivers Club Inc. (and i wish i could!)

Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair -- Little Falls, MN, US (arts and crafts from hobbyists and pros; through tomorrow)

Mushroom Festival -- Kennett Square, PA, US (food, fun, and fungi in the Mushroom Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

Nanticoke Powwow -- Millsboro, DE, US (Native American gathering and celebration; through tomorrow)

National Day -- Gibraltar

Norwalk Seaport Oyster Festival -- Norwalk, CT, US (vintage ships, crafters, entertainment, oysters, and a Kids' Cove; through tomorrow)

Saint George's Caye Day -- Belize (National Day)

Sewing Machine Day -- date of issuance of an early sewing machine patent, to Elias Howe; some sites call this "Sew Be It! Day"

Sheriff's Ride Ceremony -- Lichfield, UK (dating back to 1553, the sheriff and his men ceremonially ride the circuit of the boundary of the city; originally on the 8th Sept. every year by order of Queen Mary, now held on the Saturday nearest)

Swap Ideas Day -- Robert L. Birch of Puns Corp wants people to explore ways in which their ideas can be put to work to benefit all humanity and develop incentives to encourage using our creative imaginations

St. Finian's Day (Patron of Ulster, Ireland)

St. Nicholas of Tolentino's Day (Patron of animals, baby, dying people, mariners/sailors, sick animals; Albi, Italy; Cabanatuan, Philippines; Guimbai, Philippines; Lambuna, Philippines; Mati, Philippines; Tandag, Philippines; Toentino, Italy)

Teacher's Day -- China

TV Dinner Day

Valparaiso Popcorn Festival -- Valparaiso, IN, US (dare i call it a popping good time?)

World Suicide Prevention Day -- a great resource is here


Birthdays Today:

Clark Johnson, 1964
Randy Johnson, 1963
Colin Firth, 1960
Amy Irving, 1953
Joe Perry, 1950
Judy Geeson, 1948
Jose Feliciano, 1945
Stephen Jay Gould, 1941
Karl Lagerfeld, 1938
Charles Kuralt, 1934
Roger Maris, 1934
Arnold Palmer, 1929
Rin Tin Tin, 1918
Fay Wray, 1907
Adele Astaire, 1896
Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890
Franz Werfel, 1890
Ian Fleming, 1888
Isaac Kauffman Funk, 1839
Marie Laveau, 1801
Carter Braxton, 1736


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The X Files"(TV), 1993
"Gentle Ben"(TV), 1967
"The Road Runner Show"(TV), 1966
"Gunsmoke"(TV), 1955
"Benvenuto Cellini(Berlioz opera), 1838


Today in History:

The Battle of Marathon takes places between the forces of the Persian Empire and those of Athens, BC490*
An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Istanbul, 1509
John Smith is elected president of Jamestown, Va., Colony Council, 1608
Nathan Hale answers the call of George Washington for a volunteer spy, 1776
Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru, 1823
Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine, 1846
George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora, 1858
Lincoln Highway, the first paved coast-to-coast road in the US, opens, 1913
Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, 1919
20 African-American students enter public schools in Alabama, 1963
Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France, 1977
Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations, 2002
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland, 2008

*actual date disputed, but it was the 9th day of the 9th moon on their calendar